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Boston Cream Poke Cake

Sometimes I think this website should be called, “I Dream of Cake.” Because, in a way, it’s kinda true. I’m always thinking of ways to make cake. Especially fun cakes that can be made with cake mix. And this is a fun cake.

Seeing how much I love the Oreo Pudding Poke Cake, I decided that the yellow cake needed some poking of it’s own. And well…one thing led to another. I think y’all are really gonna love this one.

Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9×13 pan. When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake (about 1-inch) intervals using a wooden spoon handle or other similar size object. You want the holes to be fairly big so that the pudding has plenty of room to get down in there. Be sure to poke right down to the bottom of the cake. In a bowl, add milk to pudding mixture and continue to whisk until most of the lumps are removed. Pour pudding on top of warm cake. Taking care to pour straight into the holes in the cake. Take a spoon and spread it out. I like to very gently press down to ensure that pudding goes into the holes and spread it all the way to the sides. Put cake in fridge and allow to cool completely before adding the frosting (about 2 hours.) Remove the lid and foil covering from the tub of chocolate frosting. Pop it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Stir with a spoon. It should still be thick but pourable – not bubbly hot. Pour chocolate frosting on top of pudding. Spread frosting to evenly cover cake. Start in the middle and gently spread to the sides. Allow to cool on the counter for a few minutes, then put into the fridge to fully cool and set up. This cake needs to be kept refrigerated.This is one of those cakes that I think tastes better after it has sat in the fridge overnight. It really helps the pudding to settle in and blend all the flavors.

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Boston Cream Poke Cake

Prep Time2hours15minutes

Cook Time28minutes

Total Time2hours43minutes

Servings10-12

AuthorThe Country Cook

Ingredients

1box yellow cake mix

ingredients needed to make cake; eggsoil and water

2boxes instant vanilla or French vanilla pudding3.4oz

4cupsmilk

1tub chocolate frosting

Instructions

Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9 x13 pan.

When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake (about 1-inch) intervals using a wooden spoon handle or other similar size object.

You want the holes to be fairly big so that the pudding has plenty of room to get down in there.

Be sure to poke right down to the bottom of the cake.

In a bowl, prepare pudding.

Whisk together instant pudding mix with 4 cups milk.

Whisk until all the lumps are gone.

Pour pudding over cake.

Taking care to pour it right into the holes as much as possible.

Spread it all out and using the back of the spoon, gently push pudding down into the holes.

Put the cake into the fridge to set and cool (about 2 hours).

Remove the lid and foil covering from the tub of chocolate frosting.

Pop it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds.

Stir with a spoon.

It should still be a little thick but pourable - not bubbly hot.

Pour chocolate frosting on top of pudding.

Spread frosting evenly over cake starting in the center then spreading it towards the sides.

Allow to cool on the counter for a few minutes, then put into the fridge to fully cool and set up.

Recipe Notes

This cake needs to be kept refrigerated. This cake tastes better after it has sat in the fridge overnight.

Hi Patti – are you sure you used INSTANT pudding? Not Cook and Serve? Sometimes people pick up the cook & serve by accident. That one needs to be cooked first. With the instant, you don’t need to cook and it thickens when cold milk is added.

Thank you so much for all of your great recipes! And thanks for making it okay to bake using cake mixes and store-bought frosting! You make such a statement that good food doesn't always have to be made TOTALLY from scratch or the hard way! This cake is right up my alley,as Boston Cream Pie is my favorite cake. Love your site!

Anonymous, you don't need to provide a cell phone number to print this recipe. Just click on the link and it takes you to the recipe in Google Docs. No information is asked of you to do that. Sorry you seemed to be having problems.

Wowsers, your recipe looks creamy, moist and sweet. I would have loved a huge slice of this for dessert tonight! I hear ya on the cake – I love it too – so many varieties/flavor and texture combos…slap a little fruit on it and call it healthy, ya know..cake rocks!

In the process of making this now fo my grandmother's 78th bday tomorrow. The cake is baked, the pudding is on and it is in the fridge cooling, then time for the chocolate! Can't wait to bite into it tomorrow! Thanks for sharing! *D*

Thanks for a great inspiration! This sounded so good! But I am always on the lookout for ways to cut sugar and fat and still have something tasty and delicious (lap band patient myself, and have diabetic friends/family). I took your idea and tweaked it. Used a sugar free Pillsbury Yellow Cake mix, and mixed it with a 12 ounce can of diet lemon lime soda. (no eggs, no oil…just cake mix and soda). Baked that in the 9×13 pan. Poked it and followed your other instructions except I used sugar free fat free pudding mix and sugar free chocolate frosting in the tub. It was yummy and well received! Thanks for a great idea! Will be taking this to the inlaws for Easter!

SO happy y'all have enjoyed this one! Thank you so much for letting me know! Craft Teacher, I'm so glad you have found some sugar-free options for this. It's always good to know in case other readers ask how they can make a dessert like this diabetic-friendly! Thanks so much!

thank you so much for these awesome poke cake recipes! my boyfriend and i run a small bbq takeout place and i have to make a lot of the desserts we serve. i have been doing a lot of these poke cake variations and they have been a hit! these recipes have been a life saver.

Hi Cappy! Oh wow!! That is so wonderful to hear! Where is your bbq joint? Anywhere in Virginia where I can come visit? 🙂I love that these cakes have been a success for you (and your business). Thank you for taking the time to let me know. I know running your own businesses takes a ton of work and there isn't always a lot of off time so I really appreciate you coming back here to let me know!

I've made a similar cake before called Danube waves. You prepare the yellow cake mix, then spread only half of it in the pan. Add cocoa powder to the rest of the batter, spread this on top of the yellow batter. Now "poke" cherries into the mixture to make the waves. After baking, add the pudding mixture and chocolate. Very yummy!!!

Made this boston cream poke cake, and was so glad that I made it in a 13×9 since my sister was over with her two boys! Needless to say, with four teenagers in the house and three adults….it was devoured lickety split! Delicious and super simple! My husband's only complaint was that the boys ate it all up and there wasn't a bite leftover for him to take to work. Good enough reason to make another one! 😀 Thanks for sharing the recipe!

I tried this for Easter and it was delicious, even though I microwaved the frosting just a little too long and it just ran off the pudding. Clearly, you have to get the right consistency for the frosting, but it was delicious and my husband was in love! This recipe is a keeper!

Hi! Found you on Pinterest (bet you get that a lot haha) and tried this gorgeous looking recipe tonight to celebrate a big victory for my husband at work. We are impatiently waiting for it to chill in the fridge, and the house smells GREAT. It was so simple, thanks for the idea, photos, everything!! : ) I'm sure it will get repeat performances around here. LOL

I made 6 of these last night for a church diiner & it was a HIT!!!! I did make frosting was afraid to try the canned type. I learned from the 1st cake the bigger the holes the better! will go down as one of my favorites!

I just saw this on Pinterest, pinned by one of the people I follow. How did I miss this one? OMG I love Boston cream pie! This is heaps easier and the top layer won't fall off the bottom layer if you sneeze. 🙂

Made this the other night for my hubby's birthday. Boston Cream pie is his absolute favorite dessert. This is such an easy and DELICIOUS recipe!! Hubs can't get over how much it tastes like Boston Cream and I can't get over how easy it was to make. Absolutely fabulous.

Hi Brandi I absolutely adore your website! I just made your Boston Cream Poke Cake today. Its the first time I've ever made a poke cake. My husband who's a very fussy eater just LOVED it. My cake was slightly mounded in the middle, not sure why that happened, maybe it beat the batter for too long? Aside from that it was just perfect. I can't wait to make make more of your recipes. Thanks so much for all of your great pictures and hard work, they are very helpful.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the sweet comments!! I am SO happy to hear y'all like this recipe. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to leave a comment here telling me how it turned out for you!!

Hi BrandiI just adore this cake! Its so good I'm making it again…the second time in 2 weeks! But I have a question for you, its kind of a dilemma the last time I made this I had a typically sized 18.5 ounce box of Cake Mix. Now I'm finding that the boxes are 15 or 16 ounces! And these are the major food brands like Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. Are you finding this in your area also? I am in CT. Do you think these smaller boxes create the same quality cake? I'm so curious to hear your opinion.Thank you for all your hard work on your blog

Hi Andrea! I'm a big fan of Duncan Hines and I've been buying them for a while now. I'm not sure why they changed portion sizes but I have found the quality has been the same. Also, the recipes that I've made for years using those mixes have all still turned out alright. I hope that helps answer your question. Thank you so much for your comment & I hope you continue to love all the recipes you try! 🙂

I LOVE to make POKE CAKES for my Hubby….YOUR RECIPES MAKES ME HELP to FEEL like a REAL CAKE MASTER CHEF!!!!!! THANKYOU SOOOOO VERY MUCH!!!!!!MANY BLESSINGS ALWAYS!!!!!!P.S. Do you have an ORANGE CRUSH POKE CAKE RECIPE???

This cake is great! Cheap and easy to make…but taste yummy! Made it last week everyone loves it…making it for homecoming…love that I won't be baking Sunday morn…and it will tastes even better after sitting overnite! Think I will make one tonite….off to the store I guess…

I made this this week (after finding it on pinterest) and I just wanted to tell you how in love my friends are! I know I'm not the first to say it, but YUM! Thank you so much for an awesome summer group dessert!

My boyfriend's favorite food in the entire world is a Boston cream donut– I made this for him today and he drooled! Completely in love… I found him sitting on the floor in front of our fridge with a fork, noming away. Priceless. The Frosting was thick, but didn't come out as thick and settled looking ad yours. It was firm, but didn't have the same appearance. We aren't if picky eaters, so not a problem! Thanks Brandie! Going to try banana cream PC next (:

I made this today. It is soooooo good! I love Boston Cream Pie and this version is so easy — and portable! I'm taking it to my Dad's 88th birthday party tomorrow (and yes, I did have to try a piece tonight to make sure it tasted good!) Ha ha!

I am new to your site!!! I love Boston Cream donuts, but since I am a diabetic…..I can not have the orginal receipe. So I used the Pillsbury Sugarless yellow cake mix, instant sugarless vanillia pudding, and the final touch sugarless Pillsbury Chocolate frosting. This was very good and I could enjoy it. Thank you!!!!!

Absolutely wonderful and easy! Just made this tonight, again because don't ya know it's my little honey boy's favorite! He's a 16 yr old that want's you to know he's so glad his momma found your wonderful site! He personally sends his thanks! God bless and keep those lovely recipes coming! You are a fabulous cook! And you have made me one too! 🙂

Do you have any idea what your doing to me here? lol . I stumbled upon your website from Pinterest and ever since been over looking your recipes like they were real *more like wishing i could just reach through computer to grab a slice of cake. But enough said i shall be making this cake after i go shopping today . *Your killing me lol. thanks for sharing such yummie looking treats .

Oh-My-Goodness!! I have become ADDICTED to poke cakes and your WONDERFUL site! So far we have had Banana Cream Poke Cake, Oreo Poke Cake and I have *just* put the pudding on the cake for the Boston Creme Poke Cake. My humble thanks to you! 🙂

I just stumbled across your site and have spent the last 2 hours just looking over all the recipes you have posted. I could spend the whole day here, but then I wouldn't be able to try some of these wonderful recipes. Thank you so much for sharing, and please don't stop. I will be checking back here often. Love, Love, Love, this site.

Brandy – so happy to hear you had success with this one! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you!Sheryl, that is just the sweetest comment – thank you!! It makes my day to hear that. I hope you have lots of success with any of the recipes you might try!

I made this cake a couple of days ago. I have never made a poke cake before. My husband told me that this was very, very good and to keep this recipe! I agree that this cake is better after being in the fridge overnight. I made it on Sunday afternoon and we had some after church Sunday night. The frosting slid around a little bit, but it was still good. It didn't slide any the next day and was so good. It reminded me of eclairs, too!

I made this poke cake last night and it was delicious. Only thing was when i first tried to cut it it was a little gooey still, but it was still good. I suggest to keep it overnight so the pudding and frosting can sit in so when you do cut it the next day you will have no mess 🙂 enjoy!

bought ingredients to this recipe today, but i have ??? b/c they don't sell the exact measurements of the instant pudding. there are small 1 oz. boxes and larger 1.5 oz. Do you buy enough to equal 6.8 oz since the recipe calls for 2 @ 3.4 oz?? What is the consistency of all of the pudding with only 4 cups of milk?? Am I reading this wrong? Help b/c I'm hoping to surprise my husband with it for a V-day dessert. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Hmmm…I've never seen boxes that small. How much milk are you supposed to add to those small boxes. Your guess would be as good as mine here. Our standard boxes here are generally around 3 oz. for the small and close to 5 oz. for the large. Are you here in the U.S.? I would just hate to tell you wrong and you are using a brand or pudding that I am not familiar with that has different instructions than what we are used to here. ~Brandie

i stood in the baking aisle trying to figure it out, i even asked another shopper. lol is this information helpful to help figure out how much pudding i should make (pudding & milk)? thanks again, i appreciate your assistance!!

Thank you Cheesy – good point! Are you looking at the blue boxes of instant Jell-O pudding. Those are the sugar free kind. Perfectly fine to use if you want to make this lower in sugar but I just use the regular kind myself. If you are going sugar free, then I would use the 1 oz. boxes. Hope it turns out good for you!! ~Brandie

My husband loved it. I made the lower fat version of the cake from the directions on the box (using water & unsweetened applesauce). I made 2 boxes of the 1 ounce puddings (yes, they were the sf/ff version) and it was too much pudding, but still very good!

Anon- I certainly don't consider myself an accomplished cook- but I've made my share of mistakes before!! One of them was to use soy milk in a pudding/cool whip frosting for my lactose sensitive hubby. It didn't set up right and I later read that there's something about soy milk that doesn't work with jello. Go figure! I don't know if this is true of other dairy alternatives now available (almond, coconut, rice…) but maybe Google has an answer 😉

I have the cake in the oven right now and I am SOO excited to take this to a friend's house tomorrow! Boston Cream meets Poke Cake = Match made in heaven 🙂

This cake is amazing! I made it this morning and had a piece this evening and it was sooo good! I didn't have any problems with the icing moving around, etc. The first piece was a little difficult to get out 'clean' but it still tasted wonderful! 😉 Can't wait to try the coconut poke cake this week for a work potluck! You and your recipes rock! Thanks! 🙂

I do not usually comment but had to on this. My husband has always been a fan of Boston Cream Pie. He has had diabetes for quite a few years so hasn't had one in quite a while. I made this with all "no sugar added" ingredients. He absolutely loved it!!

I made this cake last night for a cookout (today). It tasted delicious and it was a big hit! However, my icing never really set up. I made the cake/pudding parts last night and added the icing this morning after a night in the fridge. I stored it in the fridge until right before it was served. Any suggestions as to why the icing was runny?

Mine didn't come out nearly as neat looking as your after the hole poking step. I used a wooden spoon handle within about a minute of removing it from the oven…it looked really messy afterward. Should I have let it cool longer?

It says to do it while the cake is WARM…not HOT. I just did mine and waited about 10 minutes. I used a plastic mixing spoon and the procedure was tedious but problem free. I also substituted cheesecake flavored pudding for regular vanilla, just to make the flavor a little more interesting. I also dropped the cake on the counter (from only an inch or so) a few times to help the pudding settle into the holes a bit. Looking forward to sampling the result at tonight's birthday dinner.

I love this cake I aslo made the banana pudding poke cake but my family just loved this one more! the first time i made it when poking the hole I made kind of a mess but it was still good! So this time when poking the hole I use a turkey baster and while I poked and twist this seemed to be less messy and less crumbs and the then when I poured the pudding I did it slowly so the pudding can go in the holes Im still practingon these recipies but having fun while I am doing it! thanks again for the recipies!

I am sharing this on FB with the following post- My kids made this cake last night- It was GREAT! And easy enough a 5 yo and 7 yo did it (only needed me to take the cake out of the oven!). They used a yellow butter golden cake, store brand vanilla pudding (2), store brand chocolate frosting. It set up great! Daddy said it was one of our best ideas yet! Thank you for sharing! There will be LOTS MORE poke cakes in this house!

Love all your recipes!!!! You have made them real simple, quick and delicious!! Baked the Boston Cream Cake 2 days ago and after it had sat overnight, it was Heavenly! Took the first bite and thought I was in paradise! I did made some changes to the recipe…used lemon flavored puddings and homemade white chocolate frosting. This is definitely a sinful dessert but mmmmm…so yummy!!! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!

In the process of making this – I think that you must have let the pudding start to set up before pouring it on – I poured mine on the cake and it just disappeared into the cake – nothing to spread on top. I'm sure it will taste good but I won't have that layer of pudding 🙁

i made this last nite and it is DELICIOUS !!! i love boston cream pie and have bought them for years from bakeries , i had no idea it was just vanilla pudding in the middle hahahaha… !! anyways this was delicious and i just used pudding cups rather than make instant pudding, turned out terrific !! thanks again… great recipe !! DH , Prince Edward Island, Canada….

We have many in our family who have Celiac Disease, or are wheat sensitive. So I will make this cake gluten free, also Weight Watchers friendly. The only change I think I would like to try is to make the topping out of a dark chocolate instead of the typical milk chocolate frosting flavor, the dark chocolate now being considered better for one.

I've made this cake several times and it comes out perfect every time. The one tip I can suggest is to "dump" your pudding in the holes immediately after mixing it. It will sink down into the holes better. Otherwise it thickens too much and harder to get into the holes. Letting it set overnight really enhances the flavor.

This looks fantastic. I was searching for a chocolate raspberry version I had many years ago and came across your website – brilliant! I love Boston Cream pie so I have to try this. Thanks for sharing!

Looks absolutely delish, but what is 'yellow cake'? Is it butter cake? I don't use packet mixes so would like to try and figure this one out myself. I'd love to make it with strawberry jam or maple syrup poured over it, under the custard… how divine!!!

I made this cake today. We will probably have it as dessert tomorrow. I used a funnel to get the pudding in the holes and it worked well. I eased the pudding down with the end of a thin spoon when it got a little thicker. Both worked great and the cake looks wonderful. Can't wait to try it!!!

I have made this cake twice now, and I have also made your Oreo poke cake as well!! As soon as we finish one of these cakes my boyfriend is always asking for another! Thank you so much for your recipes and for your dedication! 🙂